V 


/oVf 


'U  !:  I 


?  >■ 


The  Origin 
and  P  rinciples  of  the 
Christians 


' !  1 .  r\  ■ 


By 

Rev.  Martyn  Summerbell,  D.  D.,  LI/.  D. 

1.  r' 

Lakemont,  N.  Y. 


Delivered  before  the  New  Jersey  Chris¬ 
tian  Conference  in  the  Church  of  the  Evan¬ 
gel,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  October  28,  1911. 


DAYTON,  OHIO 

THE  CHRISTIAN  PUBLISHING  ASSOCIATION 

1912 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  PRINCIPIiES  OF  THE 
CHRISTIANS 

The  pleasant  duty  falls  to  my  lot  on  this 
occasion  to  speak  on  the  Origin  and  Prin¬ 
ciples  of  the  Christians.  By  “the  Chris¬ 
tians,”  for  the  purpose  of  this  discourse, 
is  meant  that  religious  denomination  which 
sprang  into  existence  at  the  end  of  the 
Eighteenth,  and  the  beginning  of  the  Nine¬ 
teenth  Centuries,  and  to  which  this  local 
church — the  Christian  Church  of  the  Evan¬ 
gel — belongs,  and  in  whose  fellowship  its 
work  is  carried  forward. 

For  this  denomination,  the  Christians,  it 
may  be  briefly  said  that  it  has  been  in  ex¬ 
istence  a  little  over  a  century;  that  it 
numbers  now  something  more  than  a  hun¬ 
dred  thousand  communicants,  some  making 
it  a  hundred  and  forty  thousand ;  that  it 
has  some  twelve  hundred  ministers  and  fif¬ 
teen  hundred  churches ;  that  it  owns  and 
administers  some  ten  colleges  in  as  many 
States  of  the  Union ;  that  it  carries  on  an 
extensive  mission  work  in  Japan,  and  an 
infant  mission  in  Porto  Rico ;  that  it  has 
a  theological  seminary  in  Ohio  and  a  suc¬ 
cessful  publishing  bouse  in  the  same  State ; 
and  that  its  denominational  organ  is  The 
Herald  of  Gospel  Liberty,  which  it  pub¬ 
lishes  weekly,  and  which  enjoys  the  distinc¬ 
tion  of  being  the  oldest  regular  religious 
weekly  in  continuous  publication  in  the 


world.  It  might  be  possible  to  take  another 
step  and  claim  for  this  religious  paper,  the 
oldest  of  all,  that  it  is  also  the  best ;  and 
there  are  some  who  are  saying  that  very 
thing.  But  we  are  a  modest  folk,  and  we 
recognize  that  there  are  a  number  of  very 
excellent  religious  publications  issuing  from 
the  several  denominational  presses,  and  ac¬ 
cordingly,  and  to  avoid  any  appearance  of 
invidious  comparison,  we  will  simply  say  of 
our  oldest  religious  paper  that  it  is  among 
the  best  that  are  published,  and  that  it  is 
positively  the  best  of  all  for  us. 

How  came  this  denomination — the  Chris¬ 
tians — to  exist ;  for  what  does  it  particular¬ 
ly  stand,  and  what  does  it  purpose  to  ac¬ 
complish?  These  are  the  questions  before 
us  for  consideration. 

Now  there  is  a  sense  in  which  we  might 
think  of  the  Christians  as  constituting  the 
American  National  Church.  I  am  saying 
that  we  might  think  of  it  in  that  manner, 
though  it  would  be  hardly  courteous  to 
others  to  speak  of  it  so  ;  at  least  very  strenu¬ 
ously.  I  am  saying  that  among  ourselves 
we  may  think  of  our  denomination  as  meet¬ 
ing  the  conditions  of  the  National  Church 
of  America.  For  it  came  into  being  in  the 
period  when  our  nation  was  taking  on  its 
present  national  form ;  the  impulses  which 
led  to  its  formation  were  similar  in  the 
religious  field  to  those  in  the  political  field 
which  led  our  fathers  to  cast  off  the  yoke 
of  kings :  it  was  indigenous  to  America,  for 


4 


unlike  so  many  of  the  denominations  about 
us  it  was  not  imported  from  over  the  sea, 
and  never  paid  a  cent  of  duty  for  admission 
to  these  shores,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it 
grew  and  developed  from  our  native  soil. 
And  more  than  all  that  it  is  the  only  de¬ 
nomination  now  in  the  public  eye  which 
can  ever  hope  to  become  completely  national 
in  character,  for  it  offers  the  only  creed,  the 
Holy  Bible,  which  all  Christians  can  accept ; 
and  Jesus,  the  only  Head  of  the  Church, 
whom  all  Christians  can  accept ;  and  the 
name  Christian,  the  only  name  which  all 
Christians  everywhere  can  accept.  In  these 
several  particulars  the  Christians  are  unique. 
All  that  they  require  of  a  man,  who  pre¬ 
sents  himself  for  fellowship  in  one  of  their 
churches,  can  be  agreed  to  by  any  member 
of  any  truly  Christian  denomination ;  for 
they  ask  only  what  the  Bible  requires,  and 
no  more ;  just  what  every  real  Christian 
in  any  denomination  believes,  and  no  more ; 
just  what  God  asks  of  a  man  to  permit  him 
to  enter  heaven — just  that  and  no  more. 

AVhen  that  day  comes,  and  come  it  will, 
as  certainly  as  that  the  sun  continues  to  rise 
and  the  world  to  move  forward  and  upward ; 
when  denominational  rancors  and  jealousies 
shall  cease ;  when  all  Christians  shall  turn 
from  trying  to  surpass  one  another  to  real 
fighting  against  sin  and  evil ;  when  all  Chris¬ 
tian  forces  shall  stand  marshalled  shoulder 
to  shoulder  for  the  promotion  of  righteous¬ 
ness  and  the  spiritual  life  in  Jesus,  as  de- 


5 


nomination  after  denomination  wheels  into 
line  to  take  its  place  in  that  magnificent 
Christian  host  under  the  standard  of  our 
Prince  Immanuel,  the  principles  on  which 
they  will  come  together,  and  the  name  under 
which  they  all  will  serve,  will  be  the  very 
same  as  those  which  our  Christian  churches 
have  advocated  and  proclaimed  all  these 
years.  Every  day  the  churches  generally  are 
approaching  this  position.  Every  day  they 
are  deploring  the  evils  of  division.  Every 
day  they  are  planning  new  enterprises  in 
which  all  who  love  the  Lord  can  work  to¬ 
gether.  And  when  they  reach  the  point 
that  they  really  wish  to  stand  side  by  side, 
there  will  be  this  difference  between  the 
Christians  and  the  others,  that  they  all 
will  have  to  surrender  something  or  other 
to  enlist  in  the  united  army ;  while  the  Chris¬ 
tians  will  have  to  surrender  nothing,  for 
they  have  been  camped  on  this  Union 
Ground  from  their  earliest  beginning. 

But  it  is  time  for  us  to  consider  that 
beginning.  The  close  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century,  as  is  well  known  to  every  student 
of  affairs,  was  marked  by  a  great  upheaval 
of  the  human  mind.  It  was  a  period  of 
breaking  up  long-standing  abuses,  of  the 
application  of  great  principles  to  conduct 
both  in  the  individual,  and  in  the  social 
mass.  French  philosophers  had  preached 
infidelity  and  the  rights  of  man  till  they 
brought  about  the  overthrov/  of  their  mon¬ 
archy  ;  the  apparition  of  the  red  spectre  of 


0 


the  guillotine  and  the  elevation  to  Empire 
of  the  First  Napoleon. 

Something  in  the  same  ferment  which  ef¬ 
fected  such  changes  on  the  map,  and  in 
the  social  conditions  of  Europe,  w^as  stirring 
in  the  American  Colonies.  Liberty  was  a 
watchword  in  all  our  Colonial  Assemblies. 
Every  North  American  freeholder  resented 
the  encroachments  of  the  British  crown,  and 
when  the  king’s  ministers  would  not  give 
way,  America  exclaimed,  “Away  with 
kings !” 

But  when  men  stand  in  peril  of  the  sword 
to  assert  their  civil  rights,  they  will  soon 
probably  be  taking  account  of  the  rights 
and  duties  in  civil  relations.  Many  of  the 
colonists  had  given  much  attention  to  the 
problems  of  state,  and  they  began  to  think 
that  some  of  the  principles  under  which  they 
had  attained  civil  liberty  could  well  apply 
to  greater  liberty  in  their  service  to  God. 
This  was  all  the  more  true  since  America 
had  been  thinking  intently  on  matters  of 
religion,  Wesley  and  Whitefield,  in  both 
England  and  America,  had  kindled  a  flame, 
which  resulted  in  a  renewal  of  practical 
piety  and  the  reform  of  men  in  their  daily 
living.  You  may  remember  that  it  was  in 
1766  that  the  First  Methodist  Society  was 
constituted  in  New  York  City,  and  that  it 
was  in  1770  when  Whitefield  preached 
through  New  England  like  a  forest  flame. 
From  this  time  forward  to  the  end  of  the 
century  and  beyond,  all  through  the  Revolu- 

7 


tionary  War,  and  during  that  after  time, 
while  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  were  framing 
the  Constitution  under  which  we  live;  and 
all  that  while  new  settlers  were  pushing 
over  the  Alleghanies  and  down  the  Ohio, 
there  was  a  wonderful  searching  of  the 
hearts  of  men.  Rights  and  duties  were  war¬ 
ring  against  privilege  and  pleasure,  and  all 
the  old  traditions  that  had  been  holding 
souls  in  bondage  were  crumbling,  *  both  at 
the  throne  and  the  altar.  The  whole  tenor 
of  the  time,  when  you  come  to  observe  it, 
was  that  of  formation  and  reformation.  If 
there  was  revolt  against  a  king,  there  was 
also  revolt  against  overmuch  lordship  in  re¬ 
ligious  assemblies.  As  has  been  well  said 
many  times  since,  these  men  felt  that  noth¬ 
ing  esteemed  settled  was  really  settled  until 
it  was  settled  right.  When  you  draw  this 
picture  of  the  close  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century ;  when  you  see  the  common  man 
packing  his  saddle  bags  and  mounting  his 
horse  to  ride  to  Boston,  or  Charleston,  or 
Richmond  to  sit  in  the  hall  of  legislation ; 
when  you  see  all  over  the  land  the  traveling 
preacher  holding  his  services  in  a  farmer’s 
kitchen,  or  expounding  the  Word  to  expec¬ 
tant  hundreds  from  a  platform  of  slabs  in 
the  shade  of  the  forest ;  when  you  see  whole 
families  in  city,  or  hamlet,  or  wilderness, 
from  Salem,  in  New  England,  down  south 
to  Savannah,  in  Georgia,  bending  at  the 
home  altar  in  the  fervor  of  their  devotion 
to  God,  you  may  begin  to  feel  the  atmos- 

8 


pbere,  and  to  secure  some  realization  of  the 
conditions  in  which  the  denomination  called 
Christians  came  to  be  so  strangely  born. 

For  the  first  we  wdll  turn  toward  the 
Methodist  communities  in  the  South.  You 
may  remember  that  the  first  General  Confer¬ 
ence  of  the  Methodists  was  held  in  Balti¬ 
more  in  1784.  Another  was  held  in  the 
same  city  eight  years  later,  in  1792,  at  which 
it  was  proposed  to  episcopalize  the  church, 
and  elect  Francis  Asbury  a  bishop.  But 
America  was  not  partial  to  bishops.  In 
the  popular  mind  they  were  associated  with 
the  monarchial  principle,  which  America  had 
discarded  in  the  state,  and  all  the  bishops 
it  had  known  were  known  to  be  friendly 
to  the  king,  and  unfriendly  to  the  new  Re¬ 
public.  So  far,  Methodism  had  gotten  on 
well  without  bishops,  and  a  number  of  the 
preachers  did  not  take  at  all  to  the  proposi¬ 
tion  for  the  new  order.  The  leader  of  the 
opposition  was  James  O’Kelly,  a  man  of 
great  ability  and  force  of  character.  It 
was  commonly  known  that  John  Wesley  him¬ 
self  was  against  the  making  of  bishops,  and 
that  he  had  written  a  letter  to  Brother 
Francis  Asbury  in  which  he  pungently  said, 
“Call  me  a  thief,  scoundrel,  or  anything 
else,  but  for  the  cause’s  sake,  call  me  not 
Bishop !” 

Another  measure  before  the  conference 
was  the  adoption  of  a  series  of  Rules  of 
Government,  drawn  up  by  Francis  Asbury, 
and  these  O’Kelly  did  not  approve  of  at  all. 


9 


He  claimed  that  the  Bible  was  the  best  Rule 
that  could  be  made,  and  that  the  formation 
of  any  other  would  result  in  oppression  of 
the  brethren.  In  the  course  of  the  debate 
he  held  up  a  New  Testament  •  in  the  sight 
of  the  conference,  and  exclaimed,  “Put  away 
all  other  books  and  forms,  and  let  this  be 
the  only  criterion,  and  that  will  satisfy  me!” 

But  the  conference,  under  the  lead  oi 
Francis  Asbury,  was  bent  on  its  course.  It 
proceeded  to  elect  Asbury  to  the  bishopric, 
and  it  voted  approval  to  the  Rules  which 
O’Kelly  and  his  supporters  had  opposed,  and 
in  consequence  James  O’Kelly,  Rice  Hag 
gard,  and  some  fifteen  or  twenty  others  with 
drew,  and  their  churches  went  with  them 
The  new  body  which  they  constituted  earlj 
in  1793  took  for  its  name  that  of  Republican 
Methodists,  in  allusion  to  the  fact  that  its 
government  was  vested  in  the  membership, 
and  not  in  a  bishop.  But  the  next  year  it 
was  recognized  that  the  title  of  the  body 
did  not  consort  with  Mr.  O’Kelly’s  claim 
of  having  all  things  in  the  church  governed 
by  the  New  Testament,  and  so  the  title. 
Republican  Methodist,  was  dropped  in  favor 
of  the  Bible  name,  Christian.  At  that  time, 
in  1794,  there  were  in  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina  about  a  thousand  members  in  the 
churches  of  the  new  body,  and  aboiit  twenty 
churches  and  ministers. 

From  the  South  we  may  now  glance  west¬ 
ward  to  that  “dark  and  bloody  ground”  of 


F 


Kentucky,  which  had  been  wrested  from  the 
savage  tribes  at  untold  cost  of  privation  and 
peril.  Here,  in  the  year  1800,  was  found 
a  devoted  band  of  young  ministers  of  the 
Presbyterian  faith.  They  were  zealous  in 
the  Master’s  service  and  preached  the  Gospel 
with  great  power.  One  of  their' number. 
Barton  W.  Stone,  was  pastor  at  Cane  Ridge, 
He  had  started  a  revival  close  by  his  chapel 
at  Cane  Ridge,  and  this  meeting  grew  into 
a  great  camp-meeting,  which  lasted  r.  year, 
and  at  which  converts  professed  religion 
by  the  hundreds  and  thousands.  After  a 
time  there  rose  the  question  as  to  what 
church  these  converts  should  join.  But  they 
knew  nothing  of  this  church  or  that.  They 
had  surrendered  to  Christ  and  His  Gospel, 
and  had  been  living  in  that  profession,  and 
it  seemed  to  them  enough.  Asked  of  what 
sect  they  were,  they  answered,  “None.” 
What  denomination  would  they  join? 
“None.”  What  denominational  name  would 
they  prefer?  And  again  they  said,  “None.” 
How,  then,  would  they  live?  And  to  that 
they  said,  “We  will  continue  to  live  as  we 
have  begun :  we  will  be  Christians.”  And 
the  young  Presbyterian  ministers  under 
whom  they  had  begun  the  religious  life  cast 
in  their  lot  with  them  and  became  simply 
Christians.  Their  names  were  well  worthy 
of  our  remembrance.  They  are  Barton  W. 
Stone,  John  Dunlavy,  John  Thompson,  Rob¬ 
ert  Marshall,  and  David  Purviance.  Their 
faith  was  as  pure  as  the  Gospel,  and  as 

11 


all-embracing  as  the  whole  Church  of  Christ. 

And  now  we  may  go  to  the  hillsides  of 
historic  New  England.  There  the  cradle  of 
liberty  had  been  rocked,  and  religious  liberty 
was  to  have  a  new  awakening. 

In  the  year  of  179G,  Abner  Jones,  a  young 
physician^  settled  in  Lyndon,  Vt,  where  he 
became  successful  in  his  calling.  But  he 
was  a  profoundly  religious  man,  and  he  felt 
that  God  had  called  him  to  preach.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.  But 
the  more  he  read  his  New  Testament,  the 
more  he  disagreed  with  the  sentiments  which 
then  prevailed  among  the  Baptists.  He  held 
the  conviction  that  the  whole  Church  of 
Christ  was  greater  than  any  branch  of  it, 
and,  beside,  he  could  not  find  any  church 
in  the  Bible  that  was  called  Baptist.  The 
Bible  tells  about  John  the  Baptist,  but  he 
was  not  a  church,  and  he  never  established 
a  church.  Hear  Mr.  Jones  on  this  subject : 
“I  drew  up  a  determination  to  believe  and 
practice  just  what  I  find  required  in  the 
Bible,  and  no  more.” 

When  he  realized  that  there  was  no  Bap¬ 
tist  church  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  and  that 
the  disciples  were  first  called  Christians  at 
Antioch,  he  ceased  to  call  himself  a  Baptist, 
and  was  known  simpiy  as  a  Christian.  He 
was  ordained  to  the  ministry  by  the  Free 
Baptists,  and  organized  the  First  Christian 
Church  in  New  England,  in  Lyndon,  Vt.,  in 
1802.  From  this  point  he  traveled  far 
and  wide,  preaching  the  gospel  and  found- 

12 


ing  churches.  In  Massachusetts  he  came  in¬ 
to  touch  with  Daniel  Hix  and  Elias  Smith, 
both  Baptist  ministers,  but  who  now  joined 
with  him  in  the  broader  field.  They,  and 
those  who  heard  them,  gladly  united  on  the 
Bible  as  a  sufficient  creed  for  Christians ; 
on  Christian  as  a  sufficient  name,  and  on 
Christian  character  as  the  sufficient  test  of 
fellowship. 

Thus  we  observe,  in  the  good  Providence 
of  God,  in  three  widely-separated  portions 
of  the  country.  South,  West,  and  East,  and 
from  three  dilferent  denominations,  Method¬ 
ist,  Presbyterian,  and  Baptist,  these  breth¬ 
ren,  faithful  preachers  all,  all  having  a 
vision  of  Christ’s  Church  as  larger  than  any 
denomination  in  existence,  and  broader  than 
what  the  broadest  creed  in  existence  could 
cover,  all  reaching  practically  the  same  be¬ 
lief,  and  all  standing  practically  on  the 
same  platform,  and  without  any  previous 
knowledge  of  each  other.  It  was  some  years 
before  they  ever  heard  of  the  existence  of 
the  others  at  all.  But,  in  1808,  when  Elias 
Smith,  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  published  The 
Herald  of  Gospel  Liberty,  by  help  of  its 
columns  they  came  into  acquaintance,  and 
at  once  joined  forces  in  one  body. 

It  has  been  said  sometimes  that  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Church  was  born  in  a  revival.  This 
was  true  of  the  Mother  Church  in  Jerusalem, 
which  gathered  its  three  thousand  converts 
after  Peter’s  sermon  on  the  Day  of  Pente¬ 
cost,  the  first  public  effort  of  the  new  church. 


13 


And,  as  we  have  seen,  these  early  Christian 
churches  in  the  South,  West,  and  East,  were 
all  born  in  revivals.  Their  ministers  were 
pioneers.  They  felt  called  to  preach  in  the 
waste  places.  They  went  out,  often  two  by 
two,  after  the  manner  of  the  Master’s  dis¬ 
ciples,  and  journeyed  from  State  to  State, 
and  from  town  to  town.  Often  they  held 
services  every  day  in  the  week  and  twice, 
or  three  times,  on  the  Sabbath.  And  wher 
ever  they  went  they  preached  the  gospel ; 
and  because  they  preached  just  that,  men 
were  converted,  and  churches  were  establish¬ 
ed.  They  knew  no  m.aster  but  Christ,  and 
all  whom  they  received  into  the  church  they 
taught  to  be  Christians.  They  were  prac¬ 
ticing  Christian  union,  and  they  offered  the 
only  ground  on  which  Christian  union 
can  be  accomplished,  and  so  were  blazing 
the  path  for  succeeding  generations  to  fol¬ 
low.  There  is  a  hymn  which  they  used  to 
sing  in  their  early  days — one  whose  poetic 
fire  may  not  be  brilliant,  but  which  indicates 
their  spirit.  It  began  with  this  stanza : 

“'More  than  ten  years  have  rolled  away. 
Since  I  did  testify  and  say, 

Aside  all  party  names  I’ll  lay. 

And  make  the  name  of  Christ  my  stay. 

And  join  in  Christian  union.” 

The  stress  laid  upon  the  joy  of,  and  the 
obligation  for  Christian  union,  as  shown  by 
this  stanza,  was  characteristic  of  the  Chris¬ 
tians  from  the  rise  of  their  government. 


14 


One  of  their  favorite  texts  was  that  expres¬ 
sion  of  our  Lord,  in  John,  where  He  prays, 
that  His  disciples  may  be  one,  “so  that 
the  world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent 
me.”  It  was  their  constant  claim  that  de¬ 
nominational  divisions  were  the  bane  of  the 
Church ;  that  the  creeds  of  the  churches 
were  provocative  of  division,  and  so  were 
worse  than  needless,  and,  in  fact,  were 
positivel3^  mischievous ;  that  the  apostolic- 
churches  flourished  when  they  had  no  creed 
at  all,  other  than  the  simple  belief  in  Jesus 
as  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  the  more  closely 
the  Church  of  the  day  models  itself  after 
the  pattern  of  the  apostolic  Church,  the 
more  readily  will  the  world  listen  to  its 
plea,  and  the  more  triumphant  will  be  its 
progress. 

ITow  some  of  the  Christian  ministers  have 
spoken  on  Christian  union  I  will  show  from 
their  own  "words.  Matthew  Gardner  was  a 
prominent  minister  of  southern  Ohio,  and 
an  associate  for  many  years  of  Barton  W. 
Stone,  of  Kentucky.  He  relates  his  attend- 
ance  at  the  Kentucky  Conference,  in  1815,. 
and  says,  “The  object  of  the  Christian  min¬ 
isters  then  seemed  to  be  to  travel  and  preach 
Christian  union,  upon  the  Bible,  as  the  only- 
rule  of  faith,  and  to  induce  all  denomina¬ 
tions  to  unite  in  one  brotherhood.”  Auto¬ 
biography,  p.  33. 

Dr.  Austin  Craig,  who  was  the  first  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Christians,  says  of  their  position :  “If  any 


15 


man  gives  us  evidence  that  he  has  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  we  do  not  trouble  ourselves — at 
any  rate  we  do  not  trouble  him — about  his 
theological  opinions.  He  may  be  Trinita¬ 
rian  or  Unitarian,  Calvinist,  Arminian,  or 
Universalist ;  yet,  if  he  has  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  that  is  all  that  we  require  in  order 
to  onr  fellowship  This,  as  I  have  always 
■supposed,  is  the  position  of  the  Christian 
Connexion.”  Life,  p.  300. 

Dr.  Henry  Y.  Rush,  who  was  for  ten  years 
the  editor  of  the  denominational  paper, 
speaks  thus  of  the  Christian  position :  “I 
■shall  stand  to  the  end  upon  the  platform  of 
our  fathers  as  to  Christian  character  being 
the  only  test  of  fellowship  and  denomina¬ 
tional  co-operation.  I  could  find  in  no  other 
pale  a  nobler  brotherhood  or  more  helpful 
fellowship.  The  trend  of  our  fairly  and 
ably-edited  paper,  and  of  its  correspondence 
is  all  in  the  line  of  less  tenacity  for 
what  Gallio  termed  ‘words  and  names,* 
and  for  what  Paul  preached  and  died — the 
union  of  Jew  and  Gentile  into  one  faith 
and  fellowship — and  this  in  a  Person,  and 
not  in  a  title — in  charity,  in  love,  and 
not  in  form  and  show  that  are  as  tinkling 
■cymbals.”  Life,  p.  275. 

I  offer  one  more  testimony  to  the  hun¬ 
dreds  that  are  available,  and  that  from  the 
pen  of  Dr.  N  Summerbell,  than  whom  no 
man  was  better  qualified  to  speak  for  the 
■denomination.  He  says  of  the  Christians: 
“They  receive  Christ  as  their  only  leader, 


16 


Christian  as  their  only  name,  the  Bible  as 
their  only  creed,  and  all  Christians  as  their 
brethren.  Their  principles  are  in  harmony 
with  the  Church  as  Christ  founded  it,  and 
the  embodiment  of  those  principles  is  the 
only  means  by  which  all  Christians  can  come 
together  as  one  body  in  Christ  in  Christian 
union.”  Life,  p.  307. 

From  what  has  been  so  far  said  it  may 
be  considered  that  the  Christians  are  a 
peculiar  people ;  peculiar  in  managing  to 
exist  for  over  a  century  without  a  written 
creed,  when  everybody  else  maintained  that 
it  was  impossible  to  hold  a  church  together 
without  a  creed,  and  the  longer  and  stiffer 
it  was,  so  much  the  better ;  peculiar  in  that 
they  rejected  any  distinctively  denomina¬ 
tional  name,  but  everybody  else  was  taking 
special  pride  in  his  own  denominational 
name ;  peculiar  in  welcoming  to  their  fel¬ 
lowship  men  of  the  most  adverse  theological 
opinions,  when  everybody  else  regarded 
unanimity  of  opinion  as  positively  essential 
to  the  existence  of  a  church ;  peculiar  in 
being  as  ready  to  attend  the  services  of  an¬ 
other  denomination,  as  those  of  their  own, 
when  their  own  was  not  available ;  peculiar 
in  listening  attentively  to  the  minister  of 
any  denomination,  because  they  recognized 
him  as  a  brother,  and  not  as  a  foeman. 
In  other  words,  the  Christians  have  been 
peculiar  in  cultivating  the  traits  that  are 
common  to  all  Christians,  and  in  discourag¬ 
ing  the  traits  that  would  divide  them  from 


17 


•the  others;  by  which  in  the  final  analysis 
you  will  easily  perceive  that  they  are  pecul¬ 
iar  only  in  not  being  peculiar  at  all.  For 
in  their  preaching  and  teaching  they  hold 
to,  and  impress  the  great  fundamental 
truths,  which,  as  Augustine  so  well  put  it, 
are  believed  “by  all,  always,  and  every¬ 
where.”  There  are  themes  enough  of  that 
kind,  and  ways  enough  of  teaching  them, 
to  keep  any  minister  busy  all  the  days  of 
his  life.  There  is  enough  to  say  about 
•God  and  Christ  and  Heaven ;  about  man’s 
•duty  to  God,  and  the  Church,  and  his  fellow- 
men  ;  about  his  soul  culture  and  his  eternal 
destiny  to  fill  every  Sunday  in  the  year, 
and  without  saying  a  single  word  to  which 
any  real  Christian  can  take  honest  excep¬ 
tion.  Sermons  can  be  built  on  these,  and 
kindred  themes,  that  the  Methodist  can  ap¬ 
prove,  that  the  Baptist  can  approve,  that 
the  Episcopalian  can  approve,  that  all  Chris¬ 
tians  can  approve,  and  that  each  and  all 
'Of  them  might  imagine  had  been  written 
for  his  own  denomination.  And  this  is  pos¬ 
sible,  for  it  is  only  the  non-essentials  which 
divide  men  and  set  them  apart  from  each 
other;  while  it  is  the  function  of  the  funda¬ 
mentals  to  unite  them,  and  inspire  them  to 
work  collectively  for  the  promotion  of  the 
gospel. 

As  a  rule,  the  instruction  of  our  Christian 
ministers  has  been  everywhere  acceptable. 
Members  of  all  denominations  quickly  find 
themselves  at  home  in  their  congregations. 


18 


When  our  ministers  have  preached  occasion¬ 
ally  in  the  pulpit  of  some  other  denomina¬ 
tion,  it  has  been  seldom  that  they  have 
failed  of  receiving  a  sympathetic  hearing. 
Time  and  again  after  such  a  service  our 
ministers  have  been  assured  that  no  one 
would  have  imagined  them  as  coming  from 
another  denomination,  if  not  so  advised. 
And  this  result  occurred,  not  because  they 
had  twisted  their  sermons  to  suit  the  oc¬ 
casion,  but  simply  and  only  because  the 
truth  they  presented  was  fundamental  truth, 
the  basic  truth  of  the  gospel,  the  truths 
that  held  everywhere,  and  that  will  prove 
true  to  all  eternity. 

And  I  can  freely  say  that  I  believe  in 
that  kind  of  preaching.  I  may  go  further 
and  say  that  that  is  the  kind  of  preaching 
that  is  coming  more  and  more  to  be  heard 
in  the  pulpits  of  all  denominations. 

We  are  to-day  on  the  eve  of  a  vast  for¬ 
ward  movement,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
laymen  of  the  churches,  to  promote  evan¬ 
gelism.  Manhood  is  to  be  enlisted,  as  never 
before  since  the  days  of  the  apostles,  to 
awaken  boys  and  men  to  the  joys  and  glory 
of  the  Christian  faith.  In  this  movement 
there  will  be  a  concerted  neglect  of  the 
questions  that  men  quarrel  about ;  a  con¬ 
certed  neglect  of  the  questions  that  create 
confusion  and  strife,  and  strong  emphasis 
will  be  laid  upon  the  sublime  truths  of  the 
gospel.  This  teaching  will  follow  closely 
the  lines  of  the  Christian  ministers  who 


19 


went  into  the  wilderness,  two  by  two,  a 
century  ago.  And,  believe  me,  this  laymen’s 
movement,  if  it  follows  those  lines,  will  meet 
with  the  like  successful  results. 

There  is  one  binding  element  in  this  world, 
which  breaks  down  partition  walls,  which 
overcomes  selfish  partisanship,  which  melts 
all  hearts  into  a  common  purpose;  and  that 
is  the  Spirit  of  Jesus.  This  Spirit  is  roused 
by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel — the  simple 
gospel  of  Jesus. 

Whenever  Mr.  Moody,  or  Mr.  Chapman, 
or  any  of  the  great  evangelists  of  recent 
years,  have  held  their  meetings,  they  have 
insisted  that  all  the  Christians  of  any  town 
to  which  they  have  come  should  unite  to¬ 
gether,  and  work  together  as  one  for  the 
salvation  of  men.  Mr.  Moody  and  the  others, 
on  such  occasions,  preached  the  gospel ;  the 
plain  truths  and  promises  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  and  kept  quite  clear  from  any  man’s 
fads  or  fancies.  All  the  denominational  shib¬ 
boleths  and  differences  which  divide  the 
Church  were  not  alluded  to,  and  those  truths 
were  proclaimed  which  all  Christians  agree 
on,  and  that  all  sinners  in  their  hearts  be¬ 
lieve,  no  matter  how  much  they  try  to  for¬ 
get  them.*  And  whenever  meetings  are  con¬ 
ducted  in  this  manner,  sinners  are  converted, 
backsliders  are  reclaimed,  and  the  whole 
church  rejoices.  It  is  only  when  the 
churches  drop  back  from  that  high  ground, 
and  begin  to  press  their  particular  claims 
aggressively  and  selfishly,  that  coldness  and 


20 


apathy  creep  in  to  drive  out  Christian  fervor 
and  love. 

We,  th.e  Christians,  believe  in  having  that 
Christian  atmosphere  all  the  time.  For  our¬ 
selves,  we  are  determined  to  cherish,  nothing 
that  tends  to  chill  the  spirit  of  Christian 
love.  If  differences  of  form,  or  of  belief, 
separate  other  Christians  from  others,  they 
are  nothing  to  us.  We  do  not  care  for  such 
differences ;  we  do  not  even  see  them.  Deep¬ 
er  than  the  form,  past  the  dogma,  we  look 
for  the  faith  and  the  life.  Wherever  we 
meet  a  Christian,  be  he  Baptist,  Methodist, 
Episcopalian,  or  Quaker — so  long  as  he  is 
Christ’s  mail — we  suffer  not  his  denomina¬ 
tional  peculiarities  to  part  him  from  our 
affection,  but  gladly  recognize  him  as  a 
brother  in  Christ.  When  he  comes  to  one 
of  our  Christian  churches,  so  long  as  he 
believes  the  Bible  and  lives  as  a  Christian, 
that  is  all  we  want  to  know ;  we  receive 
him  as  a  brother.  And  w^e  welcome  to  our 
pulpits  the  minister  of  any  Christian  body, 
not  because  he  is  a  member  of  that  body, 
but  simply  because  he  is  a  Christian.  And 
when  he  preaches  to  us  we  listen ;  but  we 
are  always  most  pleased  when  he  preaches 
those  fundamental  truths,  which  all  of  us 
believe,  and  which  are  sure  to  make  good 
Christians,  and  to  make  good  Christians 
better  Christians. 

And,  my  brother,  when  all  the  preachers 
get  to  doing  just  that;  when  they  get  to 
preaching  the  fundamental  truths  of  the 


21 


gospel,  there  will  not  be  any  timber  left 
for  building  up  partitions  between  Chris¬ 
tians  ;  and  the  world  will  be  increasingly 
converted,  and  the  Church  will  sing  her 
pean  of  triumph,  and  move  forward  for 
the  conquest  of  all  the  world  for  Christ, 


This  pamphlet  can  be  obtained  for  distribution,  by 
sending  to  The  Christian  Publishing  Association,  Day- 
ton,  Ohio,  and  inclosing  S5  cents  per  hundred. 


22 


THE  ORIGIN 

-  and  - 

PRINCIPLES 

-  of  the  - 

CHRISTIANS 


By 

J.  F.  BURNETT,  D.  D. 


Revised  Edition 


Size  SYz  X  7  inches 

64  pages  and  cover.  Con¬ 
tains  the  result  of  years  of 
searching  the  oldest  reliable 
publications  procurable  and 
consultations  with  best  author¬ 
ities  known  to  the  author. 

Price :  single  copy,  5c ;  fifty 
copies,  $2.40;  one  hundred 
copies,  $4.00.  Sent  postpaid  at 
price  named. 

The  CHRISTIAN  PUBLISHING 
ASSOCIATION 
Fifth  and  Ludlow  Streets 
Dayton,  Ohio 


The  Herald  of  Gospel 
Liberty 

Founded  September  First,  1808 


3S  published  in  the  interests  of  The 
Christian  Church;  issued  weekly; 
and  should  be  in  every  household 
of  the  membership. 

It  contains  strong,  helpful  editor¬ 
ials;  interesting  articles  and  informa¬ 
tion  on  various  subjects  related  to, 
and  departments  of  our  church,  her 
work  and  relation  to  other  churches 
throughout  the  world. 

It  furnishes  the  news  from  her  la¬ 
borers  and  fields  of  labor;  items  of 
current  events  and  world’s  progress 
interpreted  from  a  Christian  stand¬ 
point. 

It  provides  helps  for  the  depart¬ 
ments,  Sunday-school,  Christian  En¬ 
deavor,  Mission,  Education. 

It  is  the  official  organ  of  The  Amer¬ 
ican  Christian  Convention. 

It  will  interest  every  reading 
member  of  the  family  and  has  proven 
itself  the  best  religious  newspaper  for 
the  Christians. 


Its  price  is  only  $1.75  per  year. 
Sample  copies  free. 


The 

Christian  Publishing  Association 

Dayton,  Ohio 


